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The Age •

The hidden Melbourne beach teeming with rare fossils

Scarcely signposted, tucked behind a yacht squadron car park and accessible via an overgrown grass track lies one of Australia’s most significant urban fossil sites.

Beaumaris Bay, a quiet pocket of pebbled beach between Black Rock and Mentone, can easily be missed. But fossil hunters who slip past the red-lettered “no parking” sign are greeted by honeycomb-coloured cliffs and a rocky shoreline that holds a snapshot of life from five to six million years ago.

“Most cities don’t have world-clas
Cosmos •

Can journalism do a better job covering climate change?

“It feels like we’ve gone from denialism to nihilism” says Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw reflecting on the media’s shift in reporting on climate change.

Berentson-Shaw is co-director of The Workshop, an organisation that uses research and evidence-based strategies and toolkits to help people communicate about complex issues, including climate change.

“A lot of people are feeling those impacts, so much more now in their local communities than even two or three years ago,” she says. “In Australia, it’s
Cosmos •

Lab rats and science mice: Why are we using animals in research?

Philosopher and writer Dr Eva Meijer has adopted 25 mice as part of a pilot project to re-home smaller laboratory animals.

“They sit tail to tail when they like each other,” she explains. “Sometimes when they go into the nest together, they will briefly wrap their tails around each other, like holding someone’s hand.”

“Some of them make beautiful nests,” she says, describing how Bram and Wezel, two really old mice, honed their craft after other mice from their group died.

“It was like they ha
Cosmos •

Fast electric, intercity rail is key to solving transport emissions

For acupuncturist Carol Williams, The Overland train is an efficient and cost-effective way to travel between her home in Murray Bridge and Melbourne where her grandchildren live.

Williams prefers to join the intercity service enroute instead of flying, avoiding the hassle of driving more than an hour to Adelaide airport and airport security.

“Why have that stress?” she says. “This is like a day out.”

When Cosmos meets Williams onboard the train, she is knitting a jumper of grey wool-nettle b
Cosmos •

Everyone can see themselves and have fun: the case for inclusive video games

In the chaotic kitchens of Overcooked, up to four players work together frantically fulfilling orders from hungry customers.

A recipe might involve chopping lettuce and tomatoes, frying burger patties and assembling ingredients, as chefs navigate around one another in the crowded space, extinguishing fires and even remembering to wash the dirty dishes.

“Overcooked is a really good playing field for gamers and non-gamers to play together,” says Gemma Langford, the studio manager and writer at G
Cosmos •

COVID-19 schools data reveal: Unreleased Victorian data and analysis on masks, RATs and cases

Health Department documents obtained by Cosmos through FoI shed light on the effectiveness of COVID school measures, while also raising questions.

After two years in and out of lockdowns and 35 weeks of remote learning, Victorian schools began 2022 with some of the most stringent COVID-19 measures in the country.

Mandatory masks for Grade 3 and above, twice-weekly RAT screening, mandatory vaccines for teachers, air purifiers and operational measures – were announced by Premier Daniel Andrews a
Crikey •

Chisholm's Choice: The battle for the key Melbourne seat is starting to heat up

In this election series, Crikey teams up with the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism to delve into the heart of federal marginal seat Chisholm, in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne, to see what people are thinking about in the lead-up to the poll. This first piece sets the scene for what is shaping up to be one of the key battlegrounds for the election. Find more of the series here.

Among the most marginal electorates in the country — held by Hong Kong-born Liberal Gl
The Age •

‘We had to try a few home visits’: Concern for student welfare peaked in lockdown six

At one point, more than 80 per cent of secondary schools were “very concerned or concerned” about student mental health and wellbeing, while almost 70 per cent of secondary schools were worried about academic progress. Jo Camozzato, principal at Edgars Creek Secondary College, said there was no doubt this year’s extended lockdown affected students’ mental health and their enthusiasm for school, despite teachers’ best efforts. “The staff provided well-thought-out and engaging learning activities
Credit: Influencing / IT Journalism Awards

About Me

Petra Stock is an award-winning freelance journalist, specialising in science, technology, education and climate change.

Her portfolio includes news, magazine and online features, explainers, investigations and podcasts, with stories published in Cosmos Magazine, The Age, Crikey, Australian Geographic, Archer, RenewEconomy, The Mandarin and The Citizen.

She has extensive experience using Freedom of Information processes and a track record of published FoI stories.

Petra recently won the Alicia Camphuisen Best New Journalist award at the 2024 Samsung Australia IT Journalism Awards ('the Lizzies').

She was also Melbourne Press Club's Student Journalist of the Year for 2021 and the 2022 Schiavon Cadet at the Centre for Advancing Journalism. 

Petra brings to journalism two decades of professional experience working in climate change, renewable energy, environmental impact assessments and Aboriginal heritage.

She has a Master of Journalism (2022) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) (2002).

Magazine - print

Investigations and FoI

Cosmos •

COVID-19 schools data: State government responses show urgent need for better data management

Sharing public health data will be critical to the ongoing management of COVID-19, and preparing for Australia’s inevitable next pandemic. At present, if Cosmos examination of COVID-19 schools data is any example, it’s in poor shape.

A new report from the Digital Health CRC says: “Australia lacks the national data and information governance tools to deliver the scale of healthcare transformation required to support effective responses to population health challenges such as pandemics, populatio
Cosmos •

COVID-19 schools data reveal: Unreleased Victorian data and analysis on masks, RATs and cases

Health Department documents obtained by Cosmos through FoI shed light on the effectiveness of COVID school measures, while also raising questions.

After two years in and out of lockdowns and 35 weeks of remote learning, Victorian schools began 2022 with some of the most stringent COVID-19 measures in the country.

Mandatory masks for Grade 3 and above, twice-weekly RAT screening, mandatory vaccines for teachers, air purifiers and operational measures – were announced by Premier Daniel Andrews a
The Age •

‘We had to try a few home visits’: Concern for student welfare peaked in lockdown six

At one point, more than 80 per cent of secondary schools were “very concerned or concerned” about student mental health and wellbeing, while almost 70 per cent of secondary schools were worried about academic progress. Jo Camozzato, principal at Edgars Creek Secondary College, said there was no doubt this year’s extended lockdown affected students’ mental health and their enthusiasm for school, despite teachers’ best efforts. “The staff provided well-thought-out and engaging learning activities
The Age •

Unknown, uninvited strangers joining Victorian online classrooms

Unknown and uninvited people have joined classrooms held on digital platform Webex at least 13 times during remote learning in Victoria. Education Department documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal the incidents include strangers posting “images of a concerning sexual nature”, making racist comments and engaging in aggressive and threatening behaviour. A Department of Education spokesman says “the online safety of Victorian school students is our top priority”. The FoI docume
The Age •

Remote learning security concern after threatening strangers breach online classrooms

Uninvited and threatening people joined online Google Classroom sessions with Victorian school students on at least three separate occasions last year, amid privacy concerns from parents and schools.

Victorian Department of Education documents obtained under freedom of information laws revealed the incidents, including one in which a teacher was forced to shut down a lesson after an abusive stranger entered an online classroom and attempted to engage in what was described as concerning sexual b
The Age •

Students exposed to risk of fraud and grooming while learning online

Victoria’s Education Department took more than two weeks to warn schools not to use Zoom because the digital platform carried significant privacy and security risks, potentially exposing children to fraud, grooming and identity theft.

The rapid shift to online learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led schools to use ‘‘non supported’’ digital platforms in ways that undermined children’s privacy and safety online, the Department of Education chief information officer Elizabeth Wilson sai

Features - online

The Age •

The hidden Melbourne beach teeming with rare fossils

Scarcely signposted, tucked behind a yacht squadron car park and accessible via an overgrown grass track lies one of Australia’s most significant urban fossil sites.

Beaumaris Bay, a quiet pocket of pebbled beach between Black Rock and Mentone, can easily be missed. But fossil hunters who slip past the red-lettered “no parking” sign are greeted by honeycomb-coloured cliffs and a rocky shoreline that holds a snapshot of life from five to six million years ago.

“Most cities don’t have world-clas
Cosmos •

Easy street: How do we make walking and cycling to school number one?

It’s 8:30am on a Friday morning. The sun is out, and there’s a crush of lemon-scented gum in the air as students from Glenroy West Primary in Melbourne’s north start arriving for another school day.

Some are haring around on bikes and scooters, others turn up on foot, and there’s a street party atmosphere.

Erick Morillo’s I Like To Move It is pumping on the loudspeaker. A coffee cart is handing out free shots of caffeine to parents who chat on the sidelines while their kids draw in chalk on th
Cosmos •

Can journalism do a better job covering climate change?

“It feels like we’ve gone from denialism to nihilism” says Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw reflecting on the media’s shift in reporting on climate change.

Berentson-Shaw is co-director of The Workshop, an organisation that uses research and evidence-based strategies and toolkits to help people communicate about complex issues, including climate change.

“A lot of people are feeling those impacts, so much more now in their local communities than even two or three years ago,” she says. “In Australia, it’s
Cosmos •

Lab rats and science mice: Why are we using animals in research?

Philosopher and writer Dr Eva Meijer has adopted 25 mice as part of a pilot project to re-home smaller laboratory animals.

“They sit tail to tail when they like each other,” she explains. “Sometimes when they go into the nest together, they will briefly wrap their tails around each other, like holding someone’s hand.”

“Some of them make beautiful nests,” she says, describing how Bram and Wezel, two really old mice, honed their craft after other mice from their group died.

“It was like they ha
Cosmos •

Fast electric, intercity rail is key to solving transport emissions

For acupuncturist Carol Williams, The Overland train is an efficient and cost-effective way to travel between her home in Murray Bridge and Melbourne where her grandchildren live.

Williams prefers to join the intercity service enroute instead of flying, avoiding the hassle of driving more than an hour to Adelaide airport and airport security.

“Why have that stress?” she says. “This is like a day out.”

When Cosmos meets Williams onboard the train, she is knitting a jumper of grey wool-nettle b
Cosmos •

Everyone can see themselves and have fun: the case for inclusive video games

In the chaotic kitchens of Overcooked, up to four players work together frantically fulfilling orders from hungry customers.

A recipe might involve chopping lettuce and tomatoes, frying burger patties and assembling ingredients, as chefs navigate around one another in the crowded space, extinguishing fires and even remembering to wash the dirty dishes.

“Overcooked is a really good playing field for gamers and non-gamers to play together,” says Gemma Langford, the studio manager and writer at G
Cosmos •

Massive computers chewing up gigawatts of energy to support AI

Training for a large language model like ChatGPT-3 creates around 500 tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution due to massive computers chewing up gigawatts of energy.

Experts say even using generative artificial intelligence to respond to user prompts requires orders of magnitude more power than a Google search.

So while machine learning can be used for tasks like climate modelling and integrating higher shares of renewable electricity into the grid, researchers say the use of the technology comes
Cosmos •

How three Barbies found their way into a museum collection

How did three 11.5-inch blonde and blue-eyed Barbies circa 1991 find their way into Museums Victoria’s archive?

Alice Cannon, Museums Victoria Research Institute’s Manager of History and Technology Collections, tells Cosmos the Hawaiian Fun, Costume Fun and Fun to Dress dolls were originally acquired under the guise of ‘technology’.

“They weren’t collected from an individual. They don’t have a personal story connected to them. And they weren’t even really collected to talk about children’s pla
Cosmos •

Explainer: Analytical chemistry a secret weapon in conserving museum objects

In Conservation, located in the cool white underbelly of Melbourne Museum, objects conservator Charlotte Walker is preparing a psychedelic Jenny Bannister jacket ready to go on display in the Melbourne Story gallery.

The sleeveless tunic – made by the nationally significant designer when she was only 14 and attending Red Cliffs High School in Victoria – is laid out face down on a white bench.

The influence of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust is evident in the design, which is accented by loud hand
Cosmos •

Beyond the peel: How are farmers adapting as climate change shifts the wet/dry season to the Victorian border?

Mixed peel: those chewy nips of dried, candied lemon and orange rind that give Easter buns their zesty and bitter edge.

I love baking hot cross buns. But this year, searches for the peel proved fruitless, despite visiting five supermarkets and independent grocers.

Citrus peel is the latest produce to be affected by extreme weather conditions in 2023, a year marked by shortages of iceberg lettuce, and even potatoes.

Candied peel in Australia is mainly imported from Italy. In the Northern Hemis
Cosmos •

Kitchen engineering and the Great British Bake Off

It’s eighteen minutes into the first signature bake when Italian engineer Giuseppe Dell’Anno breaks out a steel ruler. Calmly, precisely he measures and slices twelve almond, orange blossom and ricotta mini rolls, ensuring each is exactly 8cm.

Engineering and baking are more similar than you might think, says Dell’Anno, who went on to win season 12 of reality TV show the Great British Bake Off.

And he tells Cosmos, the link is even stronger for his speciality, materials engineering.

Before ta
Cosmos •

Starting early key in addressing the STEM gender gap

It’s a chilly Thursday morning in Broadmeadows, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting possible showers throughout Melbourne.

A group of sixteen kindergarteners from Gowrie Broadmeadows Valley are ready to brave the elements with their gumboots, backpacks and an array of purple, blue and red parkas.

Together with their educators, groups of children leave the warmth and predictability of the early learning centre and head out into nature — to learn, explore and play in an outdoor classroom.
The Citizen •

Perfect match: Recommending children’s books in the age of algorithms

Helping children find a book they’ll enjoy reading is the most fun part of Tye Cattanach’s job at specialty children’s bookshop Readings Kids.

“If a kid says to me, ‘I’m playing Assassin’s Creed and I love it’, then you sort of get a feel for the fact that historical fiction is going to work for them,” she said.

Recommending books is a specialised skill for Ms Cattanach, a qualified teacher-librarian and with a background in children’s publishing.

She will often start out asking the child whe
The Citizen •

Down under disadvantage: How digital book apps elevate non-Australian voices

When librarian Karys McEwen scored her dream job building two new school libraries from scratch, she initially focused on building the print collection. She knew from experience that students generally preferred to read in print over digital.

But then COVID-19 hit and changed everything.

With books by local writers and illustrators a priority for her schools, located in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, Australian content became Ms McEwen’s key criteria for choosing an e-book platform.

As the Victor
Crikey •

Chisholm's Choice: The battle for the key Melbourne seat is starting to heat up

In this election series, Crikey teams up with the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism to delve into the heart of federal marginal seat Chisholm, in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne, to see what people are thinking about in the lead-up to the poll. This first piece sets the scene for what is shaping up to be one of the key battlegrounds for the election. Find more of the series here.

Among the most marginal electorates in the country — held by Hong Kong-born Liberal Gl
The Age •

Octopuses, artworks and dinosaurs on the moon: Children’s tiny galleries pop up in the streets

A red octopus hangs above a sign that reads “Please do not touch” as a small crowd peruses seascapes of sailing ships and ocean liners on the walls.

As Melbourne’s lockdown drags on, tiny galleries are popping up in Brunswick streets. Their pre- and primary-school aged curators, stuck at home, are composing scenes for passers-by to enjoy.

About the size of a shoebox, the seascape museum is inspired by the National Gallery of Victoria, a place designer Scarlett Martin likes to visit when restri
Archer Magazine •

Gendered clothing: Why are kids’ clothes still pink and blue?

For many kids, the answer to this question is more than a preference. It’s who they are as a person. When my son was five, he loved bright orange, a colour matched to his zesty and fun personality.

But having browsed the ‘boyswear’ section of major department stores, I’ve found the racks of pint-sized jeans and shirts usually stretch into a gendered ocean of blue. The rest of the rainbow – including orange – is rare or absent.

Pink for girls, blue for boys. It’s the colour cliché we’ve come to

Explainers

Cosmos •

Explainer: Analytical chemistry a secret weapon in conserving museum objects

In Conservation, located in the cool white underbelly of Melbourne Museum, objects conservator Charlotte Walker is preparing a psychedelic Jenny Bannister jacket ready to go on display in the Melbourne Story gallery.

The sleeveless tunic – made by the nationally significant designer when she was only 14 and attending Red Cliffs High School in Victoria – is laid out face down on a white bench.

The influence of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust is evident in the design, which is accented by loud hand
Cosmos •

Explainer: Unethical AI and what can be done about it

Italy bans ChatGPT over privacy concerns. An Australian whistle-blower threatens to sue for defamation after the chatbot falsely describes him as a perpetrator in the scandal he helped uncover. A Belgian man dies by suicide after confiding in an AI chatbot.

“Every day, there seems to be headlines about some new thing that raises interesting ethical questions,” says Dr Nick Schuster, an AI ethicist at ANU’s Humanising Machine Intelligence.

“ChatGPT just seems to be the latest headline maker.”
Cosmos •

Explainer: What is involved in disposing of radioactive waste from AUKUS nuclear submarines?

Australia will dispose of high-level nuclear waste from AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, according to details revealed when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met leaders of UK and US on March 13.

Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed the radioactive waste – including spent nuclear fuel – would require a new facility to be built on “current or future” Defence land with the process of selecting a site beginning in 2023.

Cosmos asked experts in nuclear science, environmental planning, communit
Cosmos •

Explainer: Why people are making room for Roomba ... in their hearts

Gareth Olver’s robot vacuum has its work cut out.

Olver lives in regional Victoria with his family, and the unpaved roads and surrounding countryside mean plenty of dirt gets tracked inside the family home.

“We live on a bit of acreage. So, if I’m out doing stuff – out with the dogs, or chopping wood, or even playing with the kids – you just can’t help but bring stuff in on your shoes,” he says.

All that dust prompted him to bring home ‘Plex’, a robotic vacuum-mop which “skits around the floo
Cosmos •

Fruit stickers: Why you should give a fig

The latter, if you accidentally eat one – which seems a fairly common occurrence given the number of newspaper and web articles headlined, “are fruit stickers edible?”

Here’s why you should give a fig about fruit stickers.

Why do we have them?

Even though these little labels look kind of official and appear on (or rather, adhere to) nearly all fresh fruit sold at supermarkets or fruit and veg shops, there’s no legal or regulatory requirement for them to be there.

Food Standards Australia req
Cosmos •

Explainer: The mysterious world of emoji 🌚

A text containing a leafless tree, a spade, and face with bags under its eyes might be cause for concern, but the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee has decided these are the tiny icons we will need in 2025.

If that wasn’t disturbing enough, the new icon list – Emoji 16.0, announced today – also contains a fingerprint, a ‘splatter’ and a harp.

And as renewable energy enthusiasts continue to wait for a wind turbine, the arrival of a new ‘root vegetable’, seems fated for pictorial innuendo.

Emoji. Love
Cosmos •

Explainer: Answering the why in Wi-Fi (and Bluetooth)

Today, it’s almost impossible to remember the world before wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which are now so ubiquitous even our hairbrushes, juicers and coffee pod machines come internet-connected.

Wi-Fi is, famously, an Australian invention that dates to the 1990s. It was developed by Dr John O’Sullivan and colleagues at the CSIRO who created the wireless local area network (or, wireless LAN) technology from mathematics developed for recording nanosecond pulses of radio waves f

Animal ethics

Cosmos •

Lab rats and science mice: Why are we using animals in research?

Philosopher and writer Dr Eva Meijer has adopted 25 mice as part of a pilot project to re-home smaller laboratory animals.

“They sit tail to tail when they like each other,” she explains. “Sometimes when they go into the nest together, they will briefly wrap their tails around each other, like holding someone’s hand.”

“Some of them make beautiful nests,” she says, describing how Bram and Wezel, two really old mice, honed their craft after other mice from their group died.

“It was like they ha
The Mandarin •

Global initiative to make animal research more transparent turns 10 – has it worked?

In the early 2000s, science was facing a “crisis of trust” in the UK, following the outbreak of ‘mad cow disease’ and rapid advances in genetically modified crops, biotechnology and computing.

Animal research became a focus of community frustration, with Nature reporting “attacks on facilities, assaults on lab staff and a distinct lack of public support”.

Science communicator Bella Lear was working with Understanding Animal Research at the time, a UK organisation established to explain why ani
Cosmos •

Top medical research body says these two tests on mice and rats should end

Australia’s leading body in health and medical research has determined two invasive methods which place rodents under inescapable stress can no longer be justified due to significant scientific, animal welfare and ethical concerns.

In a rare step, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), which also funds research, has issued two statements clarifying the forced swim test “must not proceed”, and nose-only smoke inhalation procedures “must be phased out as soon as practicable” an
Cosmos •

How do lab mice behave, if you let them be mice?

While billions of global research dollars are spent studying lab mice as ‘models’, a Cornell University study is the first to shed light on their social behaviour as ‘mice’ beyond the constraints of their shoebox-sized enclosures.

“It was really fun to see the mice get to go outside, actually touch grass, see the sky and experience the sun, which they’ve never seen for 300 generations,” researcher Caleb Vogt tells Cosmos.

The behaviour of lab mice in this natural, more expansive setting was to
Cosmos •

Peter Singer: Are experiments on animals ethically justifiable?

Professor Peter Singer does not take an absolutist position on the ethics of using animals in scientific research.

The world-renowned ethicist and philosopher, based at Princeton University in the US, has been revisiting the issue of experimentation on animals, in updating and republishing his most famous book – Animal Liberation Now – after more than 40 years.

In the book, Singer writes: “it will not do to say ‘Never!’” when it comes to scientific and medical research.

In conversation with C
Cosmos •

As world shifts to non-animal testing CSIRO outlines opportunities for Australia

The CSIRO says Australia has 5 years to maximise the economic and scientific opportunities on offer as part of the global shift to non-animal models in medical research.

With the use of animals in medical product development expected to decline, there is a risk to existing clinical industries if the country doesn’t keep pace with international trends.

The CSIRO is calling on the government, industry, research institutions and regulators to act.

A new strategy from the nation’s science agency,
Cosmos •

Researchers argue AI ethics should include animal welfare

In 2015, a Great White Shark – vulnerable on the threatened species list – was killed under Western Australia’s catch-to-kill policy, after the animal was detected swimming near a bathing beach.

Authorities were only aware of the shark’s presence due to tracking data collected for the purposes of scientific research and conservation.

The shark’s tale is a cautionary one.

It’s one of the case studies University of Melbourne researchers have included in new research highlighting the potential h
Cosmos •

Video game animals: evolving from killable objects to positive protagonists

In the midst of COVID-19 lockdowns, one of my children came to me with a confession.

“I killed all my pigs,” they blurted out, distressed.

Further disclosures revealed the pigs were digital – an animal mob in popular children’s video game Minecraft by Microsoft-owned Mojang Studios.

Having carefully farmed and bred hundreds of pink pixelated beasts, something had prompted the child to slaughter them all, invoking immediate feelings of guilt and remorse for their virtual crime.

From Nintendo’
Cosmos •

Australian universities and institutes pledge transparency on animal research

Thirty research institutions and organisations are among the first in Australia to pledge greater transparency in animal research.

Signatories of the Openness Agreement on Animal Research and Teaching in Australia include the CSIRO, several universities and medical research institutes.

The announcement – at this week’s Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) conference in Adelaide, South Australia – sees Australia join a growing list of co
Cosmos •

NZ floods show animal-inclusive disaster planning matters

People are putting themselves at risk to rescue pets in disaster zones.

New Zealand research reveals the impact of disaster planning and evacuation on pets and their owners and makes recommendations for law reform.

Publishing in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, University of Otago researchers surveyed households affected by a major flood in the town of Edgecumbe (population: 1638) located in New Zealand’s North Island in 2017.

Researchers surveyed 212 households, represen
Cosmos •

Library of mini organs reducing the need for animal testing

CSIRO researchers have teamed up with the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide to create a library of organoids, or mini organs, to advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancers.

An organoid – grown from human tissue taken during colonoscopies and endoscopies (with consent) – is a 3-dimensional structure that acts like a “mini organ”, a tiny model of a colon measuring mere microns in size.

Dr Kim Fung, a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO, says the biobank of these mode

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